Being a medical assistant, I keep myself up to date with the latest happenings in the world of medicine. I'm also an active blogger & love to share my knowledge

Jul 27, 2016

5 Intelligent and Highly Useful Medical Apps

Health is wealth and we all need to take good care of our health. However, it isn’t that easy to stay healthy. It may be hard for you to get a doctor of your preference, or remember to have medicines on time. Well, in this digital age, there are several medical apps that would help you with aspects related to your health. But, if you are sick, you should go to see a doctor. These medical apps are meant to simply work along with your doctor, and must not be used as a substitute of medical professionals.

Here are some innovative medical apps that would prove to be of great help to you:

1. Epocrates

Epocrates is of high utility for both a doctor and patient. Get information on any drug by doing a search in the app by malady or name. Filter through all the nausea medications to find the one which would work for your condition. Show the medication to your doctor to seek his/her recommendation on whether you should take it or not.

Before taking any drug, add it in your medication list that has the medicines you already take. This will tell you if taking that medicine can cause any adverse interactions. When you need to see a doctor, look for one in the Provider Directory, which lets you find a physician or doctor nearby. Here you can find the contact information of physicians, and can set up appointments in some cases.

2. Pill Identifier and Drug List

Pill Identifier and Drug List — Patient Care Edition, is a great drug and medicine information source for consumers and patients. We often need details about medicines, be it OTC or Prescription. In this app, you can look for drugs by both branded and generic names. The app stores authentic details about 60k+ medicines and drugs, and it offers you instant access to the information about any drug. You can also bookmark any drugs, so that you can refer to them in your next pharmacy visit, or when you go to see the doctor.

With this app, you can get the generic alternative for any branded drug and vice versa. The information about any drug is accompanied by a barcode of that drug. Show this barcode to the pharmacist, so that he can locate the medicine easily. The app has alphabets displayed from A to Z. Select an alphabet and the app shows you a list of medicines and drugs beginning with that alphabet.

In the details about any drug, you can find the Brand name and Generic name of the drug, its overview, why it is used, how it is used, what happens if someone misses a dose or is overdosed, possible side effects, key safety information, storage methods, manufacturer and distributer of that drug, and many such details.

3. Medscape

This is a free app that lets you get more details about a medicine you purchased at a pharmacy, by looking for it by its name or its appearance. The app also provides information about side effects, interactions with other medications, and dosage. Save the medicines you see frequently, and revisit the saved drugs if anything changes. In case you would go for a surgery, know what exactly the surgeon would be doing by searching by procedure. You can also use this app as a reference in case you forget what’s the brand of allergy medicine you prefer. If something is serious, search doctors in your region by using the Directory in the app.

4. Zocdoc

Zocdoc is an innovative app to find a doctor nearby. Fill up the type of doctor you require, the reason why you want to visit, date, and the type of insurance you have. You will be provided the names of all the doctors nearby who are available to see patients the date you wrote. You can go through profiles of the doctors and set up an appointment with a doctor right from this app. You can also read the reviews or give your own reviews, and set up Wellness Reminders in order to avoid missing any visits. Utilize the Well Guide for ensuring that you are going for the check-ups you should be getting every year.

5. Medisafe

We often tend to forget taking our medications on time. Medisafe solves this issue. Add the medicine you have to take, the time, and dosage. You would be notified by the app everyday at that particular time to take your medicine. If you are quite bad at remembering things, even when you have the app, you can let Medisafe notify a friend, spouse, or parent in case you don’t take it. This ensures that you won’t miss any dose. Easy to use, the app is of great help. You can find the app for Apple Watch too. You can view the notification and descripton of the pill, and then indicate whether or not you have taken that medicine.

The right medical apps can simplify our day-to-day lives and help us take better care of our health. The above mentioned apps can cater to your different needs when it comes to taking medicines, finding doctors, setting appointments with doctors and the likes. Download them now to make being healthy a bit easier.